Firm Sees When Consumers Are Hungry for Life Insurance

Google lets a user limit a search to results for the user's own community. A user in Chicago, for example, can look for insurance agents based only in Chicago.

Managers at iQuanti contend that a big increase in local search activity for live-human advisors shows that a user is probably in a "switchover moment," or a period in which the user prefers human interaction in the purchasing process.

Pulling consumers who are in a switchover moment over to an insurer's agents or call center reps is a good way to increase the odds of winning those consumers' business, the iQuanti managers say.

The firm has come up with a method for using its own list of search terms and Google search data to chart life insurance switchover moment trends, both at the national level and in local markets.

The big drop in life switchover activity for New York, Los Angeles and Chicago could be due in part to changes in the way Google manages its local search tool, or to changes in the way Google tracks and collects local search data.

But the drop could reflect changes in life insurance marketing programs, such as changes in spending on local or regional television, print, outdoor or digital advertising campaigns.

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